Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Chris Pratt Opens Up About His Role As Star-Lord
When Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is released next August, audiences will be introduced to a number of weird aliens from the Marvel’s larger cosmic universe. The film will be filled with walking trees and gun-loving talking raccoons, and the point of entry for general audiences will be the film’s human lead, Peter Quill/Star-Lord. The film hinges on the charisma and appeal of the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, so when Marvel cast actor Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation, Zero Dark Thirty) in the lead role, many people were wondering if he was the right fit for the job. While Chris Pratt is charming and hilarious, he has never played the lead role in a big summer tentpole movie until now.
In a recent press conference, Chris Pratt opened up about his role as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, the only human (well, half-human) in the cosmic comic-book movie. The success of Guardians of the Galaxy rests on Pratt’s broad shoulders, so it will be interesting to see what he brings to the leadership role. Pratt explains:
‘For Quill, without blowing too much of his origin, or anything like that, there’s a petulance to him. He hasn’t really been held accountable, as an adult,’ he said. ‘He’s been able to be free in space and do whatever he’s wanted to do. That’s really fun because it means that he’s slept with all these super-weird aliens. That’s my favorite weird element of the character. It’s just very wonderful.’
It sounds like Star-Lord will be something like Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot series. If that’s the case, you can easily see that there is a lot of appeal in a character like that. From the early goings of the project, James Gunn and comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis have always said that the Guardians of the Galaxy movie will be a classic “hero’s journey” story, so it’s going to be interesting to see how that’s developed into the superhero team-up movie.
Pratt went on to describe the first time he wore the Star-Lord costume and how he really felt like he was the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy:
My favorite moment that I’ve had was when I first donned my full wardrobe in the costume department. I put it on and it was just like, ‘Wow!’ I wore it, and I thought that was pretty wonderful. All of a sudden, my walk changed a little bit, and I had a little extra bob in my head. That was pretty cool.
Pratt’s co-star, Zoe Saldana, also talked about her role in the new Marvel movie. Saldana plays Gamora, the sole female member of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy. She’s also the Mad Titan Thanos’ adopted daughter and is considered “the deadliest woman in the galaxy.” Saldana explains:
I play Gamora. The weirdest thing about her is that she turns green when she blushes, she turns green when she’s mad, and she turns green when she’s turned on. And what’s wonderful is that she has grown up in an environment that has misrepresented how she truly feels inside and she’s gonna discover that, hopefully.
Director James Gunn described the film as “a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants.” Guardians of the Galaxy will also feature Dave Bautista, Benicio del Toro, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Olivia Lovibond, John C. Reilly, and Glenn Close as Nova Prime.
Guardians of the Galaxy will hit theaters everywhere on August 1, 2014, in 3D.
